www.aninfertileblonde.com

It's official......as of TODAY I will no longer have my blog on blogspot.......Please visit www.aninfertileblonde.com for today's and all future posts.

We have created a much more user friendly site.......you can sign up to receive the posts WITH ANY EMAIL ADDRESS! So fun...and it will be eaiser to comment---and you know how I love it when you do!

Love much,
xob

Spring's hottest fashion accessory

If buying a bracelet would help someone become a parent through adoption how many would you buy?

Exactly.

It's really simple.

$30 is all it takes----unless of course you'd like to stack them.

There are 8 in the photo......I wear 5 at a time......most people wear 1-3........

The Helpusadopt.org bracelet looks great by itself or next to your watch or mixed in with other bracelets.....

Sometimes I wear 1 or 2 next to my silver watch and it looks great.....

It's a statement.....for family.

It's a statement..... for children who need homes.

It's a statement..... for prospective parents who have a lot of love to give but need help from Helpusadopt.org

In case you don't know....This Infertile Blonde is co-founder and executive director of an organization called Helpusadopt.org (www.helpusadopt.org).

Helpusadopt.org is a national non-profit that helps couples / individuals with the costs of their adoptions by awarding grants of up to $15,000 to help with the costs of their adoptions. An average adoption costs $25-30,000!

This bracelet is our new fundraising initiative and they are selling out faster than we can make them.....

The bracelet was co-designed by two adoptive mothers. Yours truly and my friend Denise Cox of Denise Cox Jewelry Designs.

Crafted out of chocolate brown smoky quartz and accented with a gold leaf symbolizing a family tree, this bracelet signifies love, hope and the dream of parenthood through adoption.

100% of the price will be donated directly to Helpusadopt.org.

This bracelet is dedicated to birth parents everywhere for their courage and conviction. Especially those that helped Denise and I realize our own dreams of motherhood.

Please buy one....or two or three.....help someone who is struggling to become a parent.

We are in the process of re-building our website so for now please email or call to place your order:

becky.fawcett@helpusadopt.org or 917.684.5484.

The bracelets are $30 each + $5 for shipping and handling.

Love much,

xob

Just like a scene from "St. Elmo's Fire".......

Many often comment about how open I am about my struggle with infertility, my three miscarriages, and adoption.

Some embrace it.

Some don't.

Some wonder why I am like this---"what's the point" they ask.

Some roll their eyes when I say I am "An Infertile Blonde"---but I am one.

Well, the point is that 7.3 million people a year struggle with infertility.....as for miscarriages and adoption, I believe it is all under the same umbrella---and I think as a society we need to talk about it.

I am not a girl who believes that if you don't talk about it, it doesn't exist. That's not how I work.

These unpleasant journeys in our lives are real and they are painful. I speak from experience.

But they can also be life changing in ways you never thought possible.

I believe that you should talk openly about these things because you just never know who you might meet. You never know who's been through the same thing or someone who can offer you a piece of valued advice.

But I remember feeling as if I "shouldn't" talk about it.

I remember feeling embarrassed and almost ashamed that my body wasn't cooperating the way it was supposed to.

Now I look back and think really? How did I let myself feel that way? Shame on me.

I probably could have really used some open and honest conversation about what was going on in my life.

What wasn't helpful was feeling like I was living a scene from St. Elmo's Fire.....remember the mother who whispered certain words she didn't want to say out loud? "Cancer" "Drugs" "Prison"?----I am sure "infertility" "miscarriage" and "adoption" would have been on her list too.

Yes, now I can laugh about it. But trust me my friends, this is no laughing matter.

So I decided that I was going to talk about this stuff. I was going to be brave and bring it out into the open. Because of the number of people that infertility affects, we should be talking about this stuff openly and honestly.

Every day I hope that one way or another--- I do my part to make someone's journey through infertility, miscarriage or adoption just a little easier.

After all, doesn't everyone need a shoulder to lean on now and again?

Love much,
xob

Miss Bitz

Here she is.....

In all her glory.....

I rescued my little Bitz from the PSPCA in February of 2003 (during my IVF hell) and she was roughly 13 weeks old. She weighed barely 5 lbs.

Now she weighs 12.5 lbs.

As her mother I think she is the most beautiful girl in the world---although this picture does not do her justice.

But there are a few things you should know about my girl....

1. She snores like a freight train.

2. She hides under the bed and snaps at me when she doesn't want to go outside.

3. She is always "starving".

4. She has terrible gas----all the time.

5. Sometimes she sleeps on Kipp's side of the bed like a human with her head on the pillow.

6. She stands just out of my reach and barks at me when I go to the bathroom (lovely)

7. She has breath that could peel paint.

8. Sometimes she sleeps on her back, under the covers, with all four legs in the air

9. She is mildly disagreeable

10. She chases rabbits in her sleep

11. She sort of looks like a pot bellied pig (although that might be offensive to potbellied pigs)

12. She has perfectly straight and brilliantly white teeth

13. She LOVES Jake

14. She sits on my lap while I work and #1 and #4 happen (again....lovely)

15. She needs to go on a diet but it will never happen.

16. Is terribly misunderstood.

In spite of all her flaws I love this little girl with every bone in my body......no one else might.....but I do....she's got personality and I love it.

Love much,

xob

A Pain in the Neck

Yesterday I had a pinched something or other in my left shoulder.....

It makes total sense.

I'm left handed and I carry my overloaded bag on that shoulder.....

So when the ache began I switched my bag to the other arm and figured I'd be fine.

Apparently not.

I barely got any sleep last night because the pain has not only spread but has intensified.

I now have a giant knot where my neck meets my shoulder and can barely move.

Perhaps it is stress related.....

I can't imagine why?

And if that wasn't enough.....

I also woke up to a mild case of "adult acne".....lovely (uhhhhh I think I'm stressed).

Additionally, I had to kill a roach in my bare feet first thing this morning. (This is really one of the negatives about living in NYC)

Not with my bare feet mind you but it still sucked.

But even though my day started out on quite a sour note it has gotten better.....

a. I spent the day with Jake who didn't have school (can't get much better than that)

b. Helpusadopt.org is going to be on the Fox News Chanel tonight (national program...not bad)

and

c. Suzanne Somers is on HSN tonight (this might just be the highlight of my day)

I love her.

I think she's brilliant.

I don't buy anything (sorry Suzanne).

I just watch.

Kipp just shakes his head.

Happy Easter.....


Love much,
xob

The Rules

In addition to the laws there are many rule and arbitrary stipulations in the world of adoption.

I am doing my best to learn more about all of them.

But they really do make me angry.

And the ones that make me the angriest don't apply to me.......

But that doesn't mean that they are right.

Arbitrary judgement really doesn't sit well with me.....

NEVER in my life have I ever wanted to work so hard for change......for others

There are those who say it can't be done.

And to those people I say.......

WATCH ME.

Love much,
xob

I am an ELEPHANT

This month I am officially "22 months pregnant."

This statement confuses many......which is fair. Because as many like to point out, I am not "technically" pregnant.......

This is how I refer to myself in this second adoption.......because basically since the day we decided to pursue baby #2---in my mind I was pregnant.

I thought it was important to put this journey into terms that people could relate to.

What I didn't count on was that it would take so long---I had really hoped that the count would end @12 months or so.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records the Elephant is the mammal with the longest gestational period....apparently those editors had never researched the adoptive mother!

So as I embrace my new "elephant" status I take a deep breath.

I stand up straight and hold my head high.

Forward march.

One foot in front of the other.

Day by day.

Hopefully one day soon my water will break.......


Love much,
xob